A Grand Day Out
A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit, later marketed as A Grand Day Out, is a 1989 British stop motion animated short film directed and animated by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol. In the film, Wallace and Gromit spend a bank holiday by building a homemade rocket to the Moon to sample cheese. The short film is then followed by more short films: The Wrong Trousers in 1993, A Close Shave in 1995, and A Matter of Loaf and Death in 2008. The only voice actor in this short film is the late Peter Sallis. Plot Summary In West Wallaby Street, an middle aged inventor Wallace and his trusted canine companion Gromit relax at home, trying to decide where to spend their upcoming bank holiday, Wallace decides to fix a snack of tea with cheese and crackers. Finding no cheese in the kitchen, he decides that the pair should go to a place known for its cheese. After browsing several possible locations, a glance out the window at the night sky gives them the idea to travel to the moon, since, according to Wallace, "everybody knows the moon's made of cheese." They build a rocket in the basement and pack for the trip, but after lighting the fuse, Wallace realises that he has forgotten the crackers. Hurrying to the kitchen, he grabs multiple boxes and returns to the rocket just in time for lift off. When they arrive on the moon, they discover that the entire landscape is literally cheese. They set up a picnic and sample some, but are unable to match its taste to any cheese they are familiar with. Looking for a different spot, they encounter "The Cooker", a wheeled, mechanised, coin operated device that resembles an oven and storage cabinet. Wallace inserts a ten pence coin, but nothing happens immediately; only after he and Gromit have left does the Cooker come to life, sprouting jointed arms out of its side panels. When it finds the picnic site, it becomes agitated and gathers up the dirty dishes; finding a skiing magazine nearby, it develops a desire to travel to Earth and experience the sport. The Cooker glues a discarded spike of cheese back onto the spot from which Wallace cut it, issues a parking ticket for the rocket, and becomes annoyed by an oil leak from the craft. The Cooker spots Wallace and Gromit in the distance, Wallace having cut another spike of cheese, and sneaks up with a nightstick in hand. However, before it can hit Wallace over the head, the money Wallace inserted runs out and it freezes in place inches above his head. Wallace takes the nightstick as a souvenir, inserting another ten pence in exchange, and he and Gromit prepare to leave. Returning to life, the Cooker realises that the rocket can take it to Earth and excitedly follows them. Wallace panics, thinking that the Cooker is disappointed over the cheese he is taking, and he and Gromit retreat into the rocket. Unable to climb up the rocket's ladder, the Cooker cuts its way into the fuselage with a can opener, but accidentally spills and ignites some fuel. The resulting explosion blasts it backward and allows Wallace and Gromit to lift off. The Cooker is left on the moon, with only two strips of metal ripped from the fuselage; initially crushed by its failure to reach Earth, it fashions the metal strips into a pair of skis and is soon happily skiing across the lunar landscape. It waves goodbye to Wallace and Gromit as they return home. Trivia *The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film, but lost to the short Creature Comforts, which was also a creation of Nick Park. Category:BBC Worldwide Category:Short films